| FURRY ABOMINATIONS “It’s a cat.” “It’s a kitten.” “You said you had a surprise for me.” “Surprise, it’s a kitten.” “It’s a cat.” Creed held the furry abomination in one metal encased hand; it fit perfectly but refused to stay still. Rogue was out of the cage and turning on the tazers again. “Wait! What am I gonna do with it?” Heinquired. “Take care of it, of course.” The red head answered impatiently. “I suppose it’s better than a rabbit, them things are tasty—I’d be tempted to eat it.” Victor grinned through his mask. “You even *think* about eatin’ mah kitten and ah’ll tear your head off!” Rogue turned and fled the cell corridor angrily. “It’s a cat.” Creed sighed to the feline. *_*_*_* “You gave him your cat?” Logan’s eyes opened in astonishment. “Mah kitten, yes, ah did.” Rogue frowned at everyone’s disapproval. “I wouldn’t trust him with my dog!” Bobby exclaimed. “That’s roughly the equivalent of a cat.” Jean pointed out. “Kitten.” Rogue interjected. “Oh right, “ Bobby thought for a moment. “How about sneakers? I wouldn’t trust him with my sneakers?”“Why would you give him your sneakers?” Hank asked. “Why would Rogue give him her cat?” Bobby retorted. “Kitten! It’s mah kitten! And ah’ll tell you why! The professor wanted me tah give up mah baby tah teach Creed a lesson in humanity!” She screamed at them, all were silent. “But still, a cat? Goldfish, okay…but a cat? Won’t he feel some sort of connection and try to put the moves on it?” Bobby asked, everyone glared athim. *_*_*_* “Stop meowin’ at me! I ain’t got food fer you!” Creed snarled at the fuzzy ball that was pawing at his ankles. “Cut it out!” He pushed the cat away but it came back anyway. Fed up, Creed tried to *run* away from it. He began circling the tiny cage they kept him in with the orange kitten at his heels. He stopped abruptly when he noticed Jean staring at him oddly from outside the cell. “He won’t leave me alone.” Vic explained. Jean just continued to stare, then remembered her job. She opened the cell and placed two plates on the ground. One was obviously for the cat but the other wasn’t as tempting to eat. “Which one’s mine?” He jested. “Ha.” Jean put forth then turned the security back on. The cat bounded towards one of the plates. “Hey, scat! I ain’t eatin’ *your* food!” Creed growled angrily. “That’s not your dinner, it’s his.” Jean frowned. “Huh? You tellin’ me the stuff that looks like cat food is my food and the stuff that looks less like cat food is really cat food?” Fed up with Creed’s taunts, Jean left him to figure it out on his own. “That’s not harsh!” Creed called after her. *_*_*_* “What?” Creed pouted at Rogue through the tazer bars. “Just came tah see how mah kitten is fairin’ with ya.” Rogue explained nervously as she watched her cat frolic in Vic’s enormous lap. “You want him back? Take him! He snores, he purrs, he cuddles…he ate my dinner last night!” It had turned out that the food the cat had eaten was infact Victor’s meal. “Ah can’t, the professor won’t let me. I just wanted to say ‘hi’ to him. Have you named him?” She crossed her fingers that he hadn’t named him anything stupid.“I usually don’t name my food.” Creed growled malevolently. “Ah told you ah’d rip your…” “Just teasin’ doll.” Creed reassured her. “So, have you named him?” She asked quietly.“Nope. Didn’t figure it was my job.” “Oh well, ah named him Tiger, but you can change it for as long as you have him.” She said, as though the words hurt. “I’ll keep that in mind.” Vic nodded mockingly as she left him. “Tiger my ass, cat is more like it.” *_*_*_* “Cat? Where’d you go cat?” Creed called. Rogue was waiting at the cell’s door as he searched for his furred companion. He was found hiding under the sink. Creed scooped him up and began to follow her for his daily walk. “Still haven’t named him, huh?” Rogue asked. “I did, his name is ‘cat’.” Creed replied irritably. The Danger Room had been transformed into a forest and this was where he was to be taken for walks. To protect himself and others. Victor put cat down and watched as he began to chase a bullfrog. “You just gonna let him run off like that?” Rogue asked, her expression showed that she wanted to chase after the feline and keep it safe. “He’ll come when he’s called. Cat!” Victor demonstrated. As predicted, the cat appeared and circled his ankles, then ran off again in pursuit of thefrog. “Well, at least you haven’t killed him yet.” She shrugged. “Damn thing grew on me, what can I say?” Victor kicked at the dirt, embarrassed. There was an awkward silence between them both but only Rogue let it show that it bugged her. “Are you gonna take a walk or not?” She finally asked. “I was in the process o’ teachin’ the kitten ta kill people when ya interrupted.” Creed smirked. “Fine, I’ll just bring ya back downstairs then.” Rogue growled and turned stiffly.“Cat!” Creed called. No response. “Dammit cat! I called you!” Still nothing. “Where’d you go cat?” He stepped out into the brush and looked around for a rambunctious, orange hairball but found a wet, reddish, limp body of a once lively cat floating on the surface of the pond. A bullfrog croaked on a lilypad nearby. “Mah kitten!” Rogue cried. *_*_*_* “See? That coulda been my sneakers!” Bobby told the assembled X-Men. “I suppose this means there’s no hope for you, Creed.” Scott looked over at the restrained mutant. “I wasn’t my fault the damn thing jumped into the pond!” He snarled. He felt no remorse for what had happened, after all, it was just a cat, but now he was being attacked for something that he didn’t even do. That pissed him off.“No, I suppose it wasn’t.” Xhavier nodded. “But the results of this…experiment weren’t promising.” “Gee, sorry to disappoint you but it was JUST A CAT!” Creed snarled. “Kitten! It was mah kitten! And you let it drown!” Rogue screamed at him through tear filled eyes. “Coulda been worse, I coulda eaten it!” Victor retorted harshly. “You sonofa…” Rogue rolled up her sleeve and went to pound him, but was held back by Gambit…and Cyclops, Bishop, Beast, and Iceman. “Boo-hoo, it’s a cat, get over it.” Creed remained still. “You ain’t worth it.” She brushed off everyone and left the War Room. “You can’t imagine how many fights I get out of with that excuse.” Sabretooth shrugged as he was escorted back to his cell in the basement. END |